Pants cuff



. PANTS CUFF Filed April 16 Masz'rb.

INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 16, 1929.

UNITED STATES PAT CLARENCE W. MASTIN, 01? LITTLE ROCK, ARKANws.

PANTS CUFF.

Application filed April 16, 1927. Seria1 No. 184,365.

My invention is an improvement in bifur cated garments or trousers, and relates more especially to that particular class commonly known as-pants made of khaki, duck, or other 5 material that shrinks on being washed, and in which the pants are provided with cuffs atthe lower ends of the leg sections.

When bifurcated garments or pants of shrinkable material are Washed or soaked by Water the shrinking results in the shortening of the leg sections to quite a little extent so that the pants will not fit the wearer in the same manner as before.and therefore the main object of my invention is to provide pants of this kind with a special form of cutl' that can be readily let out to compensate for the shrinkage by permitting the leg sections to be extended to normal length with cutls at the lower ends thereof, the width of the exposed portion or face of the cuff in the present instance being practically the same width before and after being let out so as to maintain the neat appearance of the garment.

With this main object in view my invention consists in forming the pants cuff with two fiat folds or pleats pressed against each other and against the body portion of the pants leg, the inner fold or pleat being narrower than the outer fold or pleat to cooperate therewith in the proper set of the cuff as well as facilitate the operation of letting it, out in compensating for the shrinkage of the garment; all as hereinafter fully described and specifically set forth in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings igure 1 is an elevation of a pair of pants provided with cuffs in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view through my improved form of pants cuff.

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the inner fold or pleat separated from the body of the pants leg preliminary to letting out the cuff, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through one side of a leg of the pants showing the cuff let out. In carrying out my nvention in making bifurcated garments or pants such as illustrated in Fig. 1-having cuffs A at the lower ends of the leg sections Bthe cuff is formed by folding the material upon itself back and forth to provide two flatfolds or pleats 5 and 6 against the body portion of the leg of the pants with the inner portion 5 of the inner pleat 5 of a predetermined width 50 that when extended on a line with the body portion of the pants leg said extension and that portion of the pants leg from which it is removed w ll correspond with or represent the amount of shrinkage to which the pants leg is usually subjected, the outer pleat (i'which is folded against said inner pleat being slightly wider for the purpose hereinafter explained.

By referring to Figs. 2 and 3 the exact manner of folding the material of the pants leg in forming the cuff and connecting the end of the material to one of the folds or creases will be understood, for said material is first folded upon itself against the body portion of the pants leg at crease a, then folded down at a predetermined distance from crease a, as at crease (Z, to provide the flat fold or pleat. 5 having the contiguous layers 5 and 5 from the lower end of: which latter, 5". the flat fold or pleat 6 is f rmed, by creasing the material first at b and then at c, .with the upper edge of said pleat. or crease (1 above the upper edgeof crease (Z to conceal pleat 5 and the lower edge or crease b a suflicientdistance below crease a or lower edge of the body of the pants leg to receive the inturncd end 6 below said crease. Theinturned end of the material extends around the folded edgeor crease b and is secured to the lower end of layer 5 of pleat 5 by stitches 10 leaving the upper part of the pleat 6 free as is usual with pants cuffs of ordinary construction. By 10- eating the inturned end 6 immediately below crease a, or the lower end of the body portion of the pants leg, the flat folds or pleats formmg my improved cufl will present a neat flat appearance when pressed against the body portion of the pants leg, as'illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings but before pressing the trousers or pants the upper end of the flat fold or pleat 5 is lightly tacked to the pants log by threads 11, it being understood that this tacking is done at two or more places around the cuff and are cut when the pants legs are to be lengthened. being for the purpose of temporarily holding pleat 5 closely against the pants leg while the garment is being worn in its normal condition.

When it is desired to lengthen the pants legs, as for instance after the same have become shrunk from Washing or soaking in water, it is necessary only to out the tacking threads 11 and open up the pleat 5 (see Fig. 3) so that the portions or layers 5 5 thereof may be extended on a line with the leg portionA (see Fig. 4) whereby the increase in length is from crease (Z to t-hreadsvl'l in said Fig. &, these threads being pulled out and the pants legs pressed to eliminate the creases a and (Z and in this instance the cuff is composed solely of the ,flat told or pleat 6 with the layer 6 thereof against the pants leg or what was formerly layer 5" of pleat 5 and layer 6 constituting the face of the cufl as before; in other words with my improved construction the cuif has the same neat appearance before and after washing or shrinkage.

As will be obvious, the extent to which the pants leg may be lengthened depends merely on the width of the fold-portion or layer 5 of the fiat fold or pleat 5, and consequently the width of this portion of the cuff will be determined by the known shrinkage of the particular material of which the pants are made, as khaki, duck, &c. Furthermore it will be obvious that the operation of lengthening pants ot' the kind illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings can be quick] y accomplished and the particular construction of the cuff provides that the general appearance of the pants is not affected by the lengthening out of the same after washing.

I claim A cuff for shrinkable garments comprising a double layer outer fold or pleat forming the main part of the cuff and a double layer let'- out fold or pleat interposed between said outer pleat and body portion of the leg of the garment, the pleats being formed from the lower portion of the leg section and the lower edge of the material secured to the crease connecting the aforesaid inner and outer pleats.

CLARENCE W. MASTIN. 

